Bwala, Onanuga behaving like attack dogs – Catholic priest, Oluoma

A Catholic priest of the Abuja Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. John Chinenye Oluoma, popularly known as Fada Oluoma, has criticised presidential media aides, including Daniel Bwala and Bayo Onanuga, accusing them of responding to criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration with personal attacks rather than reasoned engagement.

Oluoma made the remarks in a Facebook post on Sunday while reacting to the controversy surrounding comments by Cardinal John Onaiyekan on the state of Nigeria’s economy following an interview on Arise Television.

According to the priest, the cardinal merely stated that many Nigerians were experiencing hardship, contrary to what he described as the President’s optimistic assessment of the economy.

He faulted a response by one of Tinubu’s media aides, who accused Onaiyekan of bias and unethical conduct, describing the reaction as unnecessary and provocative.

Oluoma particularly criticised Bwala, saying the presidential spokesman took the criticism of the cardinal “to an insane level.”

“The first problem is with the president’s media aide who escalated this by accusing the Cardinal of bias and unethical behavior. That’s totally unnecessary and provocative. Then characters like Daniel Bwala took the campaign of calumny against the Cardinal to insane level.

“I don’t know why media aides to presidents in this country think their job is to behave like attack dogs.

“I expected Bayo Onanuga and his cohorts to respectfully and intelligently disagree with whatever the Cardinal said that they didn’t like.

“All they needed do is explain how ‘rosy’ the economy has become or is becoming under Tinubu. Just reel out the macro and micro indices that support your position on the economy and allow Nigerians to judge. Bantering the cleric for saying what is OBVIOUS does your government no good,” he said.

The cleric argued that government officials should have responded by presenting economic indicators to support the administration’s position rather than attacking the messenger.

He maintained that Nigerians were facing severe economic hardship, stressing that ordinary citizens assessed the economy based on the prices of basic commodities.

While acknowledging that Tinubu’s administration had implemented structural reforms that could benefit the country in the long term, Oluoma said such achievements should not be used to dismiss the immediate economic difficulties confronting Nigerians.

The priest also defended the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, and Cardinal Onaiyekan, saying they had consistently criticised successive governments over the welfare of Nigerians.

Bwala, Onanuga behaving like attack dogs – Catholic priest, Oluoma